Surfing: Brazilian surfer Marcio Freire dies surfing renowned big wave break Nazaré

Nazaré is renowned for its gigantic waves. Photo / AP

Legendary Brazilian surfer Marcio Freire has died while surfing at the Portuguese big wave break Nazaré.

Freire had been practising tow-in surfing at the location notorious for huge, heavy waves but fell from his board. Support staff on jet skis managed to get the 47-year-old to the beach, but all attempts to revive him failed.

“A 47-year-old man of Brazilian nationality died this afternoon after falling while practising surfing in Praia do Norte,” Portugal’s National Maritime Authority said in a statement.

“The rescuers found that the victim was in cardio-respiratory arrest, immediately starting resuscitation manoeuvres on the sand.

“After several attempts, it was not possible to reverse the situation.”

Professional big wave surfer Nic von Rupp was one of many to post tributes to Freire on social media.

“Today we lost one of ours,” he wrote in an Instagram story.

“Always had loads of respect for Marcio as one of the paddle pioneers at Jaws. Today I saw him surf all day in Nazaré with a huge smile.

“With that huge smile is how I’m going to remember him.”

Also posting on Instagram from Nazaré, Freire’s fellow Brazilian surfer Thiago Jacare paid tribute to a close friend he called “more than an idol” and “a true hero”.

Freire was a well-seasoned big wave surfer, rising to prominence as one of three pioneering surfers featured in the 2016 documentary “Mad Dogs” about their attempt to conquer the giant Pe’ahi break in Maui, Hawaii. Pe’ahi is more commonly referred to as Jaws due to its unpredictability.

Nazaré is seen as one of the most challenging waves in the world due to the potential size of its swells. With an underwater canyon just offshore, swells are able to travel towards the shore at a greater speed with next to no loss of energy, and the differing depths between the canyon and the continental shelf cause the gigantic waves to form where the two elements meet.

It is a venue that often draws crowds of spectators, with a fort on the cliff overlooking the surf doubling as a lookout for interested viewers.

In 2020, a German surfer set the record for the largest wave ever successfully caught while surfing at Nazaré when he rode an 86ft monster. It is regarded as the most likely surfing spot to one day produce a 100ft wave.